Burori looked up, his eyes burning in hate despite his failing heart. Zaros smiled at the Saiya-jin and turned off the heart controller, watching the warrior gasp for life. Burori clenched his fists, shaking with rage as he kneeled in front of this evil little thing that had hurt him so much, that had hurt Krinis so much.

" Guards, leave me," Zaros ordered, and silently the alien slavers bowed and exited the command tower.

" What makes you think that I won't kill you now?" Burori asked with a snarl as he rose to his feet.

" Because you can't," Zaros stated flatly as he walked across the room, pausing to look out the window into space. " I just wanted to bring you here to have a little discussion about your actions and your future."

" You're going to pay for your crimes, fiend," Burori spat as he flexed his muscles, the warm comfort of his ki soaking into them.

" Must it always come to violence?" Zaros asked as he looked over at Burori, his red little eyes gleaming with malice. " We don't have to be enemies, Saiya-jin. In fact, we can be the best of friends, if you know what's good for you."

" And why would I ever bow to a wretch like you?" Burori grunted as his bulging muscles pushed their power to the limit.

" Because I control your happiness, you stupid monkey," Zaros laughed as he tapped his talons along the plate of his mechanical armor. " You really wouldn't want anything to happen to your female companion, now do you?"

" If you dare touch her-"

" Don't talk back to me, you stupid animal!" Zaros screeched as his eyes narrowed into blood-colored slits. " I am your master, and I will be treated with respect, or else you will suffer more than you have ever suffered before! Do you not think that I told the guards to brutally violate and murder that stupid she-monkey should anything happen to me in this room?"

Burori went silent, his dark eyes wide with surprise. The little tyrant had him trapped, and he was totally helpless before this horrible creature.

" You see monkey, I am much, much smarter than you are. I have ambition. My ambition stretches across the heavens, touches every corner of the universe. I am ruled by urges far greater than your petty desires to mate and eat and kill. My powers are more than enough to shatter you, and your friend, but I have uses for you yet, and if you would be willing to cooperate then the rewards will be great indeed."

" I don't care about your plans, Zaros," Burori said with hate as he glared at the unnatural monstrosity.

" You should, monkey," Zaros hissed. " One day, you will worship me. One day all will worship me."

" You are an insane fool," Burori growled as pointed at the object of his hate. "There is no way I will bow to you."

" Ah, but you don't see the beauty of the plan, you stupid monkey," Zaros rasped as he smiled at the Saiya-jin. " Very soon it will be complete, and then I shall rule forever."

" Forever?" Burori asked, disbelief painting his tone. " Nothing lasts forever, you fool."

" On the contrary," Zaros hissed, his face twisting into a frown. " I have augmented my power beyond imagination thanks to technology. I have even replaced my organs with circuitry, and my muscles with wires and metal. I am immortal, unstoppable, unaging. The years may roll on forever, but now I am eternal."

" I can break you," Burori rumbled as his ki swirled around him like a living storm.

" I doubt that, monkey," Zaros mocked as his own ki rose up from his hideous, abominable body. The energy dancing around him was a bizarre blend of colors, all hues melting into one another with black veins lacing around it. Burori knew that Zaros's ki was the same unnatural energy that the reactor had. He was facing a nightmarish thing, a creature that stole the life energy of others and used it for strength.

" Your technology won't be enough when the time comes," Burori stated as he locked eyes with his oppressor.

" You fool," Zaros laughed as his eyes glittered with horrible delight. " My armor has drained the strength of countless warriors. I grow stronger one hundred times faster than anyone could ever hope to become through training. My power is infinite. I could slay you where you stand if I so desired."

" I don't believe you," Burori growled, his eyes flashing. " I have killed many, many fighters in my day."

" I am no fighter, monkey," Zaros hissed, his voice rising. " I am above the petty ambitions of lesser beings. I am destined to become the greatest to ever exist, the one who will rule over all for eternity."

" You'll never steal enough ki to rule the universe, you madman," Burori muttered.

" Oh I know, I know, my dear, dear slave," Zaros cooed as he looked out the window. " What I'm really after is the dragonballs."

" Dragonballs?" Burori asked. " It sounds like your insane dreams are hinged on a legend."

" They are not a legend," Zaros whispered as he remembered his old master. "They are very real, and many sets of them are scattered throughout the universe, carefully guarded by the children of Namek. When all seven of a set are collected, they can summon the great dragon, which grants wishes to whoever holds the dragonballs."

" You're a fool if you think you can wish to become omnipotent," Burori stated bluntly.

" Do you know what wishes are, monkey?" Zaros asked as he paced the room, tapping his claws rhythmically across his armor. " Wishes are hope, hope in its purest form. As long as wishes exist, then hope exists. People can hope for many things, monkey. They can hope for peace, or for love, or for my destruction."

Burori watched silently, hate growing in his chest, as Zaros walked across the chamber, the tyrant lost in his own ranting.

" No matter how powerful I become, as long as people have hope, they will fight me. Hope is a weapon more powerful than any cannon, more potent than any warrior. While people hope, they can strive to defeat me, and they will try to thwart my ambition."

Zaros looked over at Burori, and the Saiya-jin was shocked to see the pure madness carved into the snarling face of the evil little alien.

" I have come too far, worked too hard for my ambitions to be thwarted, monkey. I will not let you, or any other fool, or even an eternal dragon stand in my way. That is why I must destroy the dragonballs, and wipe all hope from the face of creation. Then there will be no hope of defeating me, no way for people to overcome my incredible, immortal power."

" And what then, Zaros?" Burori asked, his voice full of contempt. " What will you do when you are able to destroy the dragonballs?"

" I will be a god," Zaros whispered, his voice on the verge of ecstasy. " The people of this miserable existence will see my power, and my eternal wrath, and they will worship me. With my technology, no one will dare touch me. I will be invincible. If they try to rebel against me, then I will blast their solar system into oblivion, until only those who serve me shall remain."

" You want to be a god?" Burori asked, incredulous at the alien's mad ambition.

" It is only natural for me to become a god," Zaros hissed as he looked out into the vastness of the void. " I am the most brilliant creature to ever exist. I know this because I have come farther than others have dared to even dream. I knew ever since I was young that I would achieve greatness, and the more my ambitions grew. My power has long ago surpassed all other living things, and I have cheated death. I will be a god to these mortals, and they will love me for it."

" No one will love a wretched fiend like you," Burori spat.

" I don't think so," Zaros rasped. " They will love me. With my power, I will be able to populate worlds, to establish universal laws, to forge empires that will last for all time. There will be no more war, no more strife, for all will fear my invincible might, and my power will stamp out all others. Peace, my peace, will last for thousands of years, until years will be like grains of sand on a beach to me."

" You can't build worlds, you idiot," Burori snarled. " You're never going to become a god."

" Is that so, monkey?" Zaros roared, his talons flexed with anger. " Technology, you fool! Technology allowed me to defy death, to create this incredible reactor, to make a weapon capable of swallowing worlds! With technology I will be able to create new, greater weapons, even to mold worlds with my bare hands. That is why I need the Earth."

" The Earth?" Burori asked, and suddenly memories stabbed into his consciousness. He remembered the powerful energy attack, the death cry he had bellowed as he had been ripped from the surface of the planet into cold space and plunged into the fire of a star. He remembered the young warriors who had fought him, testing their powers against his, and how he had been amazed at their strength, even though it was nothing compared to his. He remembered seeing that face, that hated face, that face that belonged to someone who he hated more than anything else in existence, that face whose name he could not remember.

" Yes, the Earth," Zaros hissed, his face shaped in the mockery of a smile. "From afar I have watched over the years as the inhabitants of Earth have made incredible technological process, going from cave-dwellers to space explorers in the span of a few millennia. These creatures, these humans, are pathetically weak, as I learned from the few that I was able to capture for research. However, my experiments in cross-species bioengineering proved a success, and I discovered that it was possible for humans to mate with other races to create a stronger, mixed-breed race, with the strength of one parent and the intelligence of the other."

" Krinis was an experiment?" Burori asked, his mind reeling in shock.

" What? Oh, you mean the female monkey," Zaros laughed, his mocking voice like fire in Burori's ears. " Yes, she was an experiment. An experiment that was successful beyond my wildest dreams. She has a ki even more powerful than her father's, yet she has proven to be extremely adept mentally. Once I conquer it, the Earth will be populated by creatures like her, and they will build for me awesome machines with which I will control the fate of the universe."

" This plan is mad," Burori replied, his hate building to almost uncontrollable levels.

" No, it is very, very sane," Zaros hissed back. " Once I have destroyed Namek, home of the guardians of the dragonballs, I will hunt down the remaining guardians, extinguishing the flames of hope. Then I will use the Earth as my throne, creating a new breed of super beings to do my bidding throughout the universe. Those who fight will be utterly eradicated by my awesome energy weapon. I will rule forever, becoming a true deity to my minions all across the billions of stars. No one can stop me now."

" I can."

Burori leaned back his head, his ki folding in upon itself in waves of power. His eyes flashed, the darkness melting away to a blue-green color, and his hair stood up on end as it transformed into a golden hue.

" So, you are indeed a Super Saiya-jin," Zaros commented, his voice still calm. "I had always thought that such a creature would be more impressive."

" The time has come for you to die, fiend," Burori growled, his body stretching to its limit as his muscles grew in power.

" Did it ever occur to you that I can make you happy beyond your wildest dreams?" Zaros asked, his arms folded across his chest.

" You can't lie to me, you pathetic little wretch," Burori stated as his ki began to fill the room, bathing it in golden light.

" I can make her love you, you know," Zaros hissed. " I can make her desire nothing more than your embrace. I can make her madly long for your kiss, and make her yearn to bear your children. In fact, I want this to happen. I want you to mate with her, and create for me little monkeys with awesome strength and cunning intellect. Don't you want her to love you, monkey?"

" I will not be tempted," Burori thundered, his voice booming throughout the room. " I will not let you hold her captive any more."

" Really now monkey, you are too na�ve." Zaros chuckled, his evil laughter assaulting Burori's ears. " If she wanted to escape, she probably could have years ago. You've seen the incompetence of my guards, and I take it that you've learned that the cells don't entirely block out ki. The truth is monkey that she wants to stay. She's comfortable with her existence here, with me to watch over her like a loving spirit. She may have an instinctual desire to mate with you, monkey, but in her heart she knows that she needs me to rule her world."

" No one needs your continued existence, monster," Burori rumbled as he looked at the pathetic tyrant.

" Is it really worth it, monkey?" Zaros asked as he spread his arms wide, inviting the huge Saiya-jin's wrath. " Is sating your appetite for revenge really worth throwing away your happiness? You know that even if by some miracle you do manage to kill me, the girl will die a horrible death before you can ever hope to make it down to the slave deck. Just think about that for a minute, you stupid monkey. Your killing me will mean her death, and the end of her happiness. Her happiness and your happiness are one in the same, my simple, stupid slave, so you had better start thinking about what is in her best self interest."

" I am going to kill you," Burori snarled, his eyes emitting soft white light as his body grew even more powerful. " I will make her happy by erasing your hated existence, and then when I save her, we can start building new lives."

" You illustrate my point marvelously," Zaros rasped as he looked into Burori's completely white eyes. " You still defy me because you think you can win. You still have hope, and it is keeping you from seeing the hopelessness of the situation. This is why I must stamp out all hope, starting with yours."

Burori frowned as Zaros stepped back, the creature's razor-sharp talons shining wickedly.

" Come monkey, try to end my wretched existence."

With speed so awesome that most fighters would not have even been able to see anything but a blur, Burori flung himself forward, a war cry bellowing from his chest as his fist, glowing with green ki, slammed into Zaros's chest.

Burori's eyes went wide with shock. Zaros did not fall over; the little alien didn't even budge. Burori's fist slammed into the little thing, and it felt like he had punched a solid mountain of steel. Zaros smiled.

" You are strong, monkey, but I have the strength of a thousand worlds flowing through me," Zaros hissed.

Before he could even react, Zaros's whip-like tail wrapped around Burori's arm and threw him across the room like he was a rag doll. The enormous Super Saiya-jin smashed into the wall, denting the metal structure. Burori leapt to his feet, rage pouring off his body like boiling water. With terrifying speed Zaros was on him again, the little alien's talons digging into his arm like daggers. Burori screamed, but the abomination's grip on his arm would not break.

" Now see here, monkey," Zaros rasped as he grabbed Burori's throat with his free hand, pressing his deadly talons into the Super Saiya-jin's neck. " I could easily kill you right now. Your life can be snuffed out with only the slightest effort on my part. I am hundreds of times more powerful than you are. But your ki is strong, and I need a strength like yours, a natural strength, to power my cannon. So I am going to let you live."

Zaros slammed Burori into the ground, knocking the breath from the enormous Super Saiya-jin. Burori staggered to his feet, unable to believe the power of this hideous evil before him. His white eyes went wide as he saw Zaros press down on the heart controller, and within a matter of seconds his incredible ki fled him, and his hair became black locks once again. He groaned, clutching his chest in pain and frustration.

" I want you to think about what was said here, monkey," Zaros hissed as he kicked the Saiya-jin warrior, rolling him into his back. " I can make you very very happy, or I can destroy all that you've ever dared to love. The choice is yours. Serve me willingly, or live as a broken, pathetic slave."

Burori looked at the ceiling, struggling for breath, hating the mocking little thing that stood over him.

" Guards, take the monkey back to his cell," Zaros demanded into his microphone.

" One day-" Burori gasped, struggling to force the words from his chest.

" What was that, monkey?" Zaros asked as he walked over to the fallen warrior, picking the Saiya-jin's head up by the hair.

" One day, Zaros-" Burori said, using all of his strength to find the words. "One day- I am going to make you wish- that you- never-"

" Never what, monkey?" Zaros demanded as he wrenched the Saiya-jin's head forward, pulling on his dark hair.

" That you- never- touched her-"

" Oh, how moving," Zaros mocked as he let go of Burori's hair, the Saiya-jin's head dropping to the floor. " Idle curses and cryptic threats are nothing to me, monkey."

" One day-" Burori gasped again as the guards entered and dragged him from the room.

" One day," Zaros repeated as he turned to look out the window. He snickered, thinking of the pathetic creature that was his slave. " We shall see, monkey, we shall see."

The black space outside was calm, bearing silent witness to the alien's cruelty and the warrior's vow.

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